GOST standards are introduced into quest rooms – Kommersant FM

Quest rooms for adults may have their own GOST. The initiative has already been supported by Rosstandart, the author of the proposal, Senator Airat Gibatdinov, told Kommersant FM. According to him, the events themselves can be standardized by age groups. It is also proposed to determine the level of physical contact between actors and players and exclude performances depicting torture. Moreover, to ensure security, quest rooms can be equipped with a video surveillance system. To a greater extent, the changes concern horror plots.

Regulation in this area is ripe due to many incidents during such quests, Senator Airat Gibatdinov told Kommersant FM: “We have sent several proposals, in particular, on the age limit. You can define a framework, for example, 18-55 years old and over 55.

There must be certain requirements for interaction with actors. But the main thing is to ensure the safety of people, that is, they must understand that they are not in danger of any injuries.

At the moment, we have information that in two years there have been almost 9 thousand cases of injuries and injuries, 27 criminal cases have been opened and are being investigated. In this regard, we proposed to resolve this issue. While the bill will be worked out. We submitted a proposal, received a response, and will now work with our legal team on this document. I hope that it will get to the State Duma in the autumn session, where it will be considered.”

Since the beginning of March 2024, GOST has already come into force, regulating the activities of children’s quest rooms. The main requirement is that the participants are safe and that parents can monitor them through special monitors. Moreover, data from CCTV cameras cannot be deleted before two weeks have passed from the date of the game.

How do market players feel about the proposed requirements? Representative of the international network of interactive entertainment “Claustrophobia” Vladimir Zhiganov notes that introducing an age division for visitors to quests is inappropriate: “If GOST, which is designed for activities with the participation of children, in this form will be expanded in terms of the use of dangerous objects, safety precautions for events with more adult audience, this will have a positive impact on the industry. After all, in any field, not only in quests, there are unreliable organizers and service providers.

As for the division of rules in general depending on the age of the guests, this is a very strange initiative. Still, such events need to be clearly divided into quests and classic escapes with intellectual riddles and a linear plot; for any age these are mental exercises. Even if we narrow this category to horror, where a person can receive some kind of psychological trauma or something happens to the heart, then we definitely need doctors who will determine the cutoff where this risk zone is.

In general, the introduction of new rules should not have any impact on the financial performance of bona fide organizers and large networks.

For small players, whom we call “temporaries” and who came to earn money today, it makes absolutely no difference what happens to the quests. Most of them operate in a gray zone, you can even see this from the tax service reports: there are no cash registers, all payments are made from card to card. It will be harder for these guys.”

GOST for children’s quest rooms also introduced a classification of participants by age, number, plot, level of emotions and complexity. Organizers, in turn, are now required to obtain written consent from parents for their child’s participation in the event.

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Dennis Bespalov